Amazon RDS vs Google Cloud SQL comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4, while Google is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.8. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 13.5% mindshare in DS, compared to Google’s 7.8% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Google users who would recommend it.

Amazon RDS

Read 58 Amazon RDS reviews

3,802 Views
3,650 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Google Cloud SQL

Read 23 Google Cloud SQL reviews

2,134 Views
2,070 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon RDS

Google Cloud SQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Amazon RDS and Google Cloud SQL are competitors in the cloud-based database services category. Amazon RDS seems to have the upper hand in deployment agility and availability, while Google Cloud SQL shines in cost-effectiveness and management simplicity.

Features: Amazon RDS is praised for easy database creation, seamless integration with AWS services, and its ability to support multiple database engines like MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and Amazon Aurora. It also offers automated CI/CD tools, serverless options, and high resilience. Google Cloud SQL is appreciated for its automatic backups, high availability, and strong data protection. It ensures seamless integration with GCP services and provides a user-friendly, cost-effective solution for managing various data needs.

Room for Improvement: Amazon RDS could benefit from simplifying configuration complexities, enhancing shell access, and offering expanded support for more database engines. Cost management features also require improvement. Google Cloud SQL should improve integration with external data sources and provide more intuitive data analysis tools. Users have also noted a need for enhanced documentation and support for high-end I/O operations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon RDS is favored for its straightforward deployment in the cloud, though it receives criticism for the responsiveness of its technical support without premium options. Google Cloud SQL is acknowledged for effective support services, yet there is room for improvement in initial response times and documentation clarity. Both platforms offer sufficient support, with premium services recommended for complex issues.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon RDS has mixed reviews on pricing, attributed to high costs that are often justified by operational savings and scalability benefits. Its pay-as-you-go model is beneficial, but unexpected expenses necessitate careful cost monitoring. Google Cloud SQL is competitively priced, offering predictable and lower costs, making it an attractive option. Both services assure ROI, with Amazon RDS's comprehensive management and high availability adding to its value proposition.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL

February 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon RDS

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

2nd

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Google Cloud SQL

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

6th

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

19th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database Management Systems (DBMS) (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Amazon RDS is 13.5%, down from 25.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud SQL is 7.8%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Amazon RDS	13.5%
Google Cloud SQL	7.8%
Other	78.7%

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

reviewer2592669

Director Software Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

Positive experiences with database services, with minor room for feature enhancements observed

I don't really see any disadvantages of Amazon RDS. With Oracle, I think AWS doesn't provide the RAC stability. If you have Oracle installed in your own data centers, you can set up various clusters and we can set up the RACs, but in Amazon RDS, we cannot have the RAC feature of Oracle. They could add that feature. Amazon RDS has limitations regarding RAC. If we talk about installing Oracle in RDS, we cannot have the RAC, but if you deploy Oracle on GCP, then there is probably the RAC feature available. I observed that around two or three years back, but I'm not sure whether they have added the RAC feature in AWS. Amazon RDS is expensive compared to GCP. GCP also has the same features, and although it is quite extensive and feature-rich, I see Amazon RDS as slightly expensive compared to other clouds.

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Prathap Sankar

Analytics Delivery Manager at Tredence Inc.

Gain control and flexibility with customizable tools but has slower performance

I am majorly working in Google Cloud SQL for building my applications Google Cloud SQL provides complete customization options, along with a dashboarding tool and a comprehensive suite of tools that can be used to customize and build any application needed. The deployment model allows for…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The solution's customer service is excellent."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."

"Relational databases excel in extensive normalization, eliminating data redundancy and efficiently structuring tables which leads to a clear and efficient relationship between tables using primary keys."

"Amazon RDS is quite a well-managed and stable service...The initial setup was very easy."

"Amazon RDS is a scalable solution."

"Amazon RDS is lightweight and flexible."

"Being able to change the size of an RDS MySQL instance is amazing."

"The most valuable feature is that it is a fully managed database, where they handle most of the administrative tasks and leaves the users more time to concentrate on business."

More Amazon RDS pros

"It's SQL. SQL is so easy if you know something about databases. It's easy to learn."

"From a database management perspective, it provides services without the need for me to worry about backups, scaling, or other operational issues."

"The setup was straightforward. Just a couple of clicks, and we were done."

"Google Cloud SQL provides complete customization options, along with a dashboarding tool and a comprehensive suite of tools that can be used to customize and build any application needed."

"The deployment model allows for significant control and flexibility."

"Its most valuable feature is that it's scalable. I can start off with a base of a lot of data and move as much as I want and it's the same as if asked to do a lot of infrastructure changes."

"The product is scalable."

"What I like the most about Google Cloud SQL is that it handles the management, which allows us to concentrate on our applications."

More Google Cloud SQL pros

Cons

"When you are using it for the first time, it is a little bit hard to configure. The first-time configuration is not very easy. It should be easier to configure. Its installation should also be simpler. Currently, its installation is very complex. With SQL Server, we have access to the SQL Server analysis services and reporting services, but such services are not available with Amazon RDS."

"The running cost could be improved."

"As a customer of Amazon RDS, you don't have super-user privileges, and that is the only drawback where improvements are required."

"Technical support could be better."

"AWS support is decent, but it's not as good as before. Sometimes, we get junior staff who are unable to answer our questions. It also depends on the support team you get. Support based in Europe and Australia is better than US support. For example, European support is quick to deliver the right answer. US support handles routine maintenance issues, and it's mostly junior staff who don't know the product well."

"User interface needs improvement for using IPS and CloudWatch to scale and utilize read replicas, enabling performance insights to view query formats where the bottlenecks occur, identifying the fixes, slow queries, and missing indexes, improving the security and monitoring with alerts."

"Amazon RDS is expensive compared to GCP. GCP also has the same features, and although it is quite extensive and feature-rich, I see Amazon RDS as slightly expensive compared to other clouds."

"The only thing that needs improvement would be the pricing of the solution."

More Amazon RDS cons

"The monitoring part could be better."

"They could improve documentation and dashboard stability for efficient user experience and database management."

"The most challenging part is dealing with legacy data from your old systems and migrating it into the new setup, but once you've completed the data migration, it becomes quite convenient to use."

"In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users."

"The overall documentation and the connectors need improvement."

"The only thing that could be better is the pricing."

"For data analysis, the AI area of the product has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

"When discussing media files, such as images and audio files, stored in Google Cloud, concerns about handling large amounts of data arise."

More Google Cloud SQL cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is manageable because you can see the expense associated with each instance and utilize tools for tagging and cost control."

"The solution is fairly priced."

"It is less expensive than SQL Server. We pay based on the usage on a monthly basis."

"Amazon RDS is not a very expensive solution."

"Amazon RDS is cheaper compared to other tools."

"The cost depends on the kind of instance we use."

"The cost of using this solution is similar to that of having your own data center."

"The substantial initial credit and cost-effectiveness make Amazon an attractive option."

More Amazon RDS pricing and cost advice

"The solution is affordable."

"You need to pay extra costs for backup and replication."

"From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side."

"It's really cheap. It wouldn't be more than, I believe it's around 50 euro per month for running a cloud SQL."

"It is not expensive, especially considering the significant reduction in database management time."

"The pricing is very much an important factor as to why we use this solution."

"While the platform’s pricing may be higher, it aligns with industry standards, considering the quality of service and features provided."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Educational Organization

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	23

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	9

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon RDS?

The product's installation phase is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon RDS?

The pricing for Amazon RDS is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon RDS?

Currently, I cannot think of any major improvements. Perhaps more platforms in terms of database engine versions would be beneficial. Right now, Amazon RDS supports MySQL and PostgreSQL, but there ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Google Cloud SQL?

The implementation part of the product was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud SQL?

We have set up automated patch management for Google Cloud SQL, and it does on a daily basis what needs to be done, so it is pretty good overall for maintaining our database security.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Cloud SQL?

Sometimes the sharing with third parties or configuring that in Google Cloud SQL is not the most intuitive. From a user perspective, if Google Cloud SQL integrated AI directly into the query so tha...

See all answers

Comparisons

MongoDB Atlas vs Amazon RDS

Compared 18% of the time

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Amazon RDS

Compared 12% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Amazon RDS

Compared 9% of the time

Yugabyte Cloud vs Amazon RDS

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Amazon RDS

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon RDS Competitors

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 28% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 15% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 5% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 5% of the time

More Google Cloud SQL Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS

February 2026

Download Amazon RDS product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Cloud SQL

February 2026

Download Google Cloud SQL product report

Also Known As

RDS

No data available

Overview

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a web service that makes it easier to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient, resizeable capacity for an industry-standard relational database and manages common database administration tasks.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Google Cloud SQL is a fully-managed database service that makes it easy to set up, maintain, manage, and administer your relational PostgreSQL and MySQL databases in the cloud. Google Cloud SQL offers high performance, scalability, and convenience. Hosted on Google Cloud Platform, Cloud SQL provides a database infrastructure for applications running anywhere.

Google

Sample Customers

Edmodo

BeDataDriven, CodeFutures, Daffodil, GenieConnect, KiSSFLOW, LiveHive, SulAm_rica, Zync

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL

February 2026

Free Report: Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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